Iran reiterates opposition to an OPEC output hike

(AFP, TEHRAN) - Iran reiterated its opposition Monday to any production increase by the OPEC oil cartel.

(AFP, TEHRAN) - Iran reiterated its opposition Monday to any production increase by the OPEC oil cartel, the state news agency IRNA reported.

"In light of OPEC's decisions and notably its mechanism (of controlling oil prices), Iran believes it does not need to increase production," Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh said after the arrival at Tehran's airport of his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah, who is making a three-day visit to Iran.

Zanganeh said last week that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would increase production levels if prices stayed above 28 dollars a barrel for a one-week period.

The comment came after a statement by OPEC president Ali Rodriguez that the cartel would increase its production by 500,000 barrels a day if prices stayed at a high level.

The Iranian minister also said it would be premature to hold an OPEC meeting "because we should wait and see" how the market develops.

Saudi Arabia reportedly called for an emergency meeting of the OPEC in Vienna this week to consider pumping more crude into the market as a way of putting a damper on persistently high prices.

But two weeks ago, Rodriguez ruled out an emergency meeting, saying any decision to raise production would be left until late July or early August.